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X Pate'ntedJuIyIS, 1880.

WTqEsSEE R, ff, Wg WZ infirm. uoro umocmpnz UNITED STATES WILLIS CROWEAND THOMAS R.

rIEsrEE, or NAPA, oALIEoENIA.

BALLOT-BOX.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 229,965, dated July 13,1880. Application lled January 3l, 1880.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIS GROWE and l THOMAS R. BESTER, citizens ofthe United States, residing' at Napa, in the countyof Napa and State ofCalifornia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inTime-Lock Registering Ballot-Boxes; and we do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,and to letters or gures of reference marked thereon, which form a partof this specification.

Figure l of the drawings represents a front view of the compartmentcontaining' the alarmclock and registering mechanism with thedial-plates and glass door removed. Fig. 2 is a front elevation, onareduced scale, with dialplates and glass door attached. Fig. 3 is atop-plan view with a portion of the top removed. FignlC is a detailsectional view, showing the trap for receiving and depositing theballots and the mechanism for automatically throwing the trap back toits original position 5 and Fig. 5 is a top-plan view of the bol-t andthe catches upon the doors.

The object of the present invention is to provide a ballotbox that willafford security against fraudulent voting, and the invention consists inso constructing the box that the ballot, when deposited, automaticallycauses a gong or bell to be struck one blo-w, thereby giving audiblenotice to all bystanders of a vote having been cast, and simultaneouslywith this sounding of the bell a pointer or hand, or several of suchdevices, indicates the vote upon an exposed dial or face within oneofthe compartments of the box.

In connection with the above devices, the box is provided with atime-lock to prevent access to the interior of the box until a speciedtime, when the doors may be opened by the proper authorities and theballots withdrawn, and at the moment of the unlocking oi" the doors analarm attached to the clock mechanism is sounded to notify the ofcersthat the time has arrived for the unlocking ofthe doors.

The several parts of the ballot-box, its pef culiar construction, andarrangement of mechanism by which the above results are accomplishedwill be hereinafter definitely described, and subsequently pointed outin the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, A represents a box of any suitablematerial and of anyA convenient size or shape. This box is divided, by atransverse partition, u, into two compartments, B (l, thc formercompartment being designed forthe reception ofthe ballots after beingdeposited, while the compartment C is to contain the mechanism composingthe time-lock and register. The compartment B has a closed top, b, asshown in section in Fig. 4L of the drawings, the top b covering aportion only of the compartment, while the other portion, uncovered, isprovided with a hinged or other form of door, D, having a suitable knob,c, whereby access is had to the compartment for the purpose of removing'the ballots.

The door D has secured to its under side a catch, d, to engage with abolt, E. The timelock mechanism, to which the boltis connected, may becomposed of any suitable clock-work, and description of the details ofconstruction and arrangement ofthe severalcog-wheels is deemedunnecessary.

The bolt E, at its end opposite to that end which engages with the catchd, is bent down at a right angle to form a hook, c, which engages with aspring-catch, f, secured to the frame of a glass door, F, which closesthe front of the compartment C. The bolt E is pivoted to a horizontalarm, g, which, in turn, is pivoted to the upper end of a vertical rod,

7i, said rod being also pivoted to a plate, i', or other convenient baseor projection within the compartment.

To the rod /L is rigidly secured or fastened a horizontal loop, j,through which passes the lower end of an escapement-wire, k, the upperend being' connected with the escapement in such manner that when therod 7i at its lower end is moved to the right an alarm will be soundedupon the bell G by the hammer l. The upper end of the rod 71. moves inan opposite direction to the lower end, and at the moment the alarm issounded the bolt E is dis-l engaged from the catches Z f, which admitsof the doors D F being opened.

The clock-work is provided with the usual dial-plate, H, and minute andhour hands.

To the shaft of one of the cog-wheels of the clock-work is secured alock-dial, I, having upon its inner side a trip-disk, J, of circularform. This trip disk or wheel may be provided with a friction-collar, soit may beturned around on the shaft as desired, yet sufficiently tightto hold it where left, and the lower end of the rod h is bent at a rightangle, to bear against the periphery of the trip-wheel, as will behereinafter more fully described.

The trap K, which receives the ballot previous to its being deposited inthe compartment B, consists of two wings, m, of any suitable material,and of sufficient width and length to receive the ballot when folded.The wings m are arranged at right angles to each other and rigidlysecured to a sleeve, n, upon a horizontal shaft, o. The sleeve a hasratchetteeth upon one of its ends to en gage with a gliding ratchet, p,which is feathered to the shaft o, to prevent it from rotating thereon,but permitting it to slide or move lengthwisea of the shaft. The shaft ohas Aits bearings in the top of one wall of the compartment B and thepartition a, and to one end of the shaft is secured a small cog-wheel,q, meshing with the teeth of a larger'wheel, r, secured to the innerside of the compartment B. This wheel o' has a pin, s, which bears upona dat spring, L, so that when the vertical wing of the trap K is presseddown into the opening in the top b, to deposit the ballot lyig on thehorizontal wing of the trap, the trap will automatically return to itsoriginal position, as illustrated in Fig. 4.

A coil-spring upon the shaft 0 keeps the ratchet p engaged with theratchet end of the sleeve n, thus actingas a spring-ratchet. To thatpart of the shaft o located within the compartment C is secured atrip-wheel, M, so that when the shaft o is thrown forward to deposit theballot the trip-wheel will release a hammer, t, provided with a suitablespring, which signals upon the bell G. The shafto is prevented fromrotating backward upon or within its bearing by a suitable spring-pawland ratchet, `u c.

To the eXtreme end of the shaft 0 is secured a small cog-wheel, w, theteeth of which mesh with the teeth upon a larger wheel, N. This wheel N,together with two other wheels, O P, gear with each other and operatethe hands upon a register, It. The dial l revolves once in twenty-fourhours, and is divided into hours from one to twelve, or midday tomidnight, and from midnight to midday; and to the axis of the wheel S isrigidly secured a pointer, y. The hour-hand of the clock and the pointery on the dial l are set atl the same hour, and when it is desired tohave the alarm go oif at any specied hour, then that hour on the dial isbrought around until it stands under the pointer. The alarm of the clockis now wound up, also the time mechanism, and the hands of the registerlt adjusted to point to zero. The catch d of the door D is adjusted sothat it will be under the end of th'e bolt E, and

when all is arranged on the inside the front' door, F, is closed, thespring-catch j" automatically engaging with the bolt, and is securelylocked.

The apparatus when the ballot is placed by the party is now ready foruse, and has been properly folded it voting upon the horizontal wing ofthe trap K and the trap pressed down until the vertical wing assumes ahorizontal, which deposits the ballot in the com partment B. At themoment the ballot passes off the horizontal wing of the trap K, by thearrangement of devices heretofore described, a signal is sounded uponthe bell Gr, and through the operation of the cog-wheels YV and N thehand to the right upon the register is moved one place, and when thehand makes a complete revolution the center hand moves one place uponits own dial, and when it makes a complete revolution one place or pointis marked by the hand upon the extreme left. lt will thus be seen that acorrect account of the votes polled is secured and the number accuratelykept on the dials of the register R, in view of the voters and others,through the glass door F, who can see the number of votes polled at allhours of the day, also hear the signal when each vote is depos ited.

At the hour the doors D F are to be unlocked the trip-disk J is carriedaround by the wheel S and the bent end of the rod 7b rests in the notchin the disk. This acts upon the escapement-wire k and allows the hammerl to sound the alarm upon the bell G. The upper end of the rod h isthrown to the left by the action of the trip-disk J, which releases thebolt E from the catches d f and admits of the doors being opened.

To prevent the glass door F from falling down when the bolt is withdrawnfrom the catches, a hook and staple may be employed, as shown in Fig. 3.

Having now fully described our invention, what we claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- l. A ballot-box provided withmeans, substantially as described, for automatically registering thenumber of votes or ballots and giving a signal as each vote is cast, anda time locking mechanism by which the doors, both to theballot-compartment and the compartment containing the dial-plates, arefastened, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The trap K, secured to the ratchet-sleeve u upon the shaft 0, incombination with the spring-ratchetp, the register R, and the alarm,substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. The ballot-box A, divided into compartments B C, and provided withdoors DF, with catch d and spring-catch j', in combination IOO IOS

IIO

IIS

with the bolt E, arm g, rod h, trip-disk J, with ln testimony whereof weaffix our signatures a suitable olook mechanism, substantially as inpresence of two witnesses. and for the purpose described.

4. In a ballot-box, the combination, with :i 5 suitable vrime-lookmechanism, of lche dial I, U'

having pointer y, trip-disk J, rod h, loop j, and Witnesses: theesoepement-Wire k, substantially as and Jos. F. LAMDIN,

for the purpose set forth. A. WARREN ROBINSON.

